Black lives matter. We are pained and outraged by the killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and too many others, and acknowledge the pain, anger, and suffering that has manifested in protest nationwide, and spread across the world. We acknowledge the systems of oppression that have for generations denied Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) the rights granted to privileged white populations. We hear the pain, we see the trauma, and we are committed to the hard work ahead, supporting the change needed to create a society that fights for justice. 

Inspired by images of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Coretta Scott King locked in a powerful embrace and walking arm in arm at the frontlines of a protest or march, The Embrace will be a new memorial on the Boston Common to celebrate the Kings legacy and remind visitors of the power of collective action. 

In the midst of our current global pandemic, we seek to bring designers and architects to support the fight to keep everyone safe. We’re dedicating resources to form a core COVID-19 Response Team, who will be available to help our partners on the front lines, and developing a set of guides that can serve as a resource to all.

The response team will leverage lessons learned from the last ten years of working in infectious disease settings and will engage key thought leaders in design and healthcare.

To respond to the COVID-19 pandemic surge, hospitals have had to rapidly adapt their spaces into makeshift infection control units.

In partnership with The Mount Sinai Hospital and Ariadne Labs, MASS conducted a rapid response study to investigate spatial interventions that can help mitigate the risk of infection.

Yesterday, we lost an elder. Michael Sorkin was many things to many people over his long career: a dedicated teacher, the last of the great practitioner critics, and a tireless advocate for a more environmentally and socially just architectural reckoning.

May you rest in peace, Michael, and know that the generation that follows you will pick up the torch and carry on what you’ve left behind.

JUSTICE IS BEAUTY goes on sale on December 17.

Celebrating 10 years of work, our first monograph highlights the projects, people, and partnerships that have formed the backbone of MASS Design Group since our beginnings.

Consider making an investment in the next 10 years of MASS. If you donate $200 or more, we will send you an exclusive autographed copy of our monograph. 

The Gun Violence Memorial Project opened September 19 at the Chicago Architecture Biennial.

The exhibition features four houses built of 700 glass bricks, each house representing the average number of lives lost due to gun violence every week in America. Families who have lost a loved one due to gun violence contributed remembrance objects, which are placed within a glass brick, displaying the name, year of birth, and year of death of the person being honored.

For more information about the project, visit www.gunviolencememorialproject.org.

We need memorials that embrace truth.

The Equal Justice Initiative created a national lynching memorial as a sacred space for truth-telling and reflection about racial terror in America and its legacy.

“I believe we need to talk about the shame of slavery. We need to talk about the shadows that still haunt us.”
 —Bryan Stevenson, Founder and Executive Director of EJI 

Read more about the project.

The National Design Awards were conceived by Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum to honor lasting achievement in American design. 

Read a statement from the MASS team.